Thursday, January 31, 2008

Clinton Slime in Action:
1) Bill gets $Millions ($31M now, $100M later)
2) Frank Giustra gets $Billions.
3) Kazakhstan dictator gets Bill's Blessings.
Hillary and Bill have been "For Sale" for 36 years.
Check this article in the NY Times, January 31, 2008: "After Mining Deal, Financier Donated to Clinton Charity" Even by Clinton Slime standards this was sleazy. Basically Bill pimped himself out for a Canadian businessman Frank Giustra and the dictator of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev. Here is what everyone got:
1) Frank Giustra got a fantastic uranium mining deal in Kazakhstan - worth $billions.2) The dictator of Kazakhstan got Bill giving him enthusiastic support for the dictator's bid to head "an international organization that monitors and supports democracy." Of course, that is a farce.
3) The Clinton Foundation got $31M from Frank Giustra for the Clinton Foundation with a public pledge to give $100 million more.
HOW MANY OF YOU FOLKS WANT TO VOMIT ABOUT NOW? Hillary and Bill have been for sale for 36 years. Bill gets Frank Giustra a fantastic billion dollar business deal by openly supporting an iron-fisted dictator's propaganda and fake ploy to head a human rights and supposedly pro-democracy organization. Bill gets $31 Million in cash for the Clinton Foundation and a public pledge of another $100 Million. This is the Ugly Truth about Hillary and Bill. Just another example of lack of judgement and Clinton Slime in Action.
January 31, 2008
After Mining Deal, Financier Donated to Clinton Charity
By JO BECKER and DON VAN NATTA Jr.Late on Sept. 6, 2005, a private plane carrying the Canadian mining financier Frank Giustra touched down in Almaty, a ruggedly picturesque city in southeast Kazakhstan. Several hundred miles to the west a fortune awaited: highly coveted deposits of uranium that could fuel nuclear reactors around the world. And Mr. Giustra was in hot pursuit of an exclusive deal to tap them. Unlike more established competitors, Mr. Giustra was a newcomer to uranium mining in Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic. But what his fledgling company lacked in experience, it made up for in connections. Accompanying Mr. Giustra on his luxuriously appointed MD-87 jet that day was a former president of the United States, Bill Clinton.
Upon landing on the first stop of a three-country philanthropic tour, the two men were whisked off to share a sumptuous midnight banquet with Kazakhstan's president, Nursultan A. Nazarbayev, whose 19-year stranglehold on the country has all but quashed political dissent.
Mr. Nazarbayev walked away from the table with a propaganda coup, after Mr. Clinton expressed enthusiastic support for the Kazakh leader's bid to head an international organization that monitors elections and supports democracy. Mr. Clinton's public declaration undercut both American foreign policy and sharp criticism of Kazakhstan's poor human rights record by, among others, Mr. Clinton's wife, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.
Within two days, corporate records show that Mr. Giustra also came up a winner when his company signed preliminary agreements giving it the right to buy into three uranium projects controlled by Kazakhstan's state-owned uranium agency, Kazatomprom.
The monster deal stunned the mining industry, turning an unknown shell company into one of the world's largest uranium producers in a transaction ultimately worth tens of millions of dollars to Mr. Giustra, analysts said.
Just months after the Kazakh pact was finalized, Mr. Clinton's charitable foundation received its own windfall: a $31.3 million donation from Mr. Giustra that had remained a secret until he acknowledged it last month. The gift, combined with Mr. Giustra's more recent and public pledge to give the William J. Clinton Foundation an additional $100 million, secured Mr. Giustra a place in Mr. Clinton's inner circle, an exclusive club of wealthy entrepreneurs in which friendship with the former president has its privileges.
Mr. Giustra was invited to accompany the former president to Almaty just as the financier was trying to seal a deal he had been negotiating for months.
In separate written responses, both men said Mr. Giustra traveled with Mr. Clinton to Kazakhstan, India and China to see first-hand the philanthropic work done by his foundation.
A spokesman for Mr. Clinton said the former president knew that Mr. Giustra had mining interests in Kazakhstan but was unaware of "any particular efforts" and did nothing to help. Mr. Giustra said he was there as an "observer only" and there was "no discussion" of the deal with Mr. Nazarbayev or Mr. Clinton.
But Moukhtar Dzhakishev, president of Kazatomprom, said in an interview that Mr. Giustra did discuss it, directly with the Kazakh president, and that his friendship with Mr. Clinton "of course made an impression." Mr. Dzhakishev added that Kazatomprom chose to form a partnership with Mr. Giustra's company based solely on the merits of its offer.
After The Times told Mr. Giustra that others said he had discussed the deal with Mr. Nazarbayev, Mr. Giustra responded that he "may well have mentioned my general interest in the Kazakhstan mining business to him, but I did not discuss the ongoing" efforts.
As Mrs. Clinton's presidential campaign has intensified, Mr. Clinton has begun severing financial ties with Ronald W. Burkle, the supermarket magnate, and Vinod Gupta, the chairman of InfoUSA, to avoid any conflicts of interest. Those two men have harnessed the former president's clout to expand their businesses while making the Clintons rich through partnership and consulting arrangements.
Mr. Clinton has vowed to continue raising money for his foundation if Mrs. Clinton is elected president, maintaining his connections with a wide network of philanthropic partners.
Mr. Giustra said that while his friendship with the former president "may have elevated my profile in the news media, it has not directly affected any of my business transactions."
Mining colleagues and analysts agree it has not hurt. Neil MacDonald, the chief executive of a Canadian merchant bank that specializes in mining deals, said Mr. Giustra's financial success was partly due to a "fantastic network" crowned by Mr. Clinton. "That's a very solid relationship for him," Mr. MacDonald said. "I'm sure it's very much a two-way relationship because that's the way Frank operates."
Foreseeing Opportunities
Mr. Giustra made his fortune in mining ventures as a broker on the Vancouver Stock Exchange, raising billions of dollars and developing a loyal following of investors. Just as the mining sector collapsed, Mr. Giustra, a lifelong film buff, founded the Lion's Gate Entertainment Corporation in 1997. But he sold the studio in 2003 and returned to mining.
Mr. Giustra foresaw a bull market in gold and began investing in mines in Argentina, Australia and Mexico. He turned a $20 million shell company into a powerhouse that, after a $2.4 billion merger with Goldcorp Inc., became Canada's second-largest gold company.
With a net worth estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars [thanks to Bill that is going UP], Mr. Giustra began looking for ways to put his wealth to good use. Meeting Mr. Clinton, and learning about the work his foundation was doing on issues like AIDS treatment in poor countries, "changed my life," Mr. Giustra told The Vancouver Sun.
The two men were introduced in June 2005 at a fund-raiser for tsunami victims at Mr. Giustra's Vancouver home and hit it off right away. They share a love of history, geopolitics and music — Mr. Giustra plays the trumpet to Mr. Clinton's saxophone. Soon the dapper Canadian was a regular at Mr. Clinton's side, as they flew around the world aboard Mr. Giustra's plane.
Philanthropy may have become his passion, but Mr. Giustra, now 50, was still hunting for ways to make money.
Exploding demand for energy had helped revitalize the nuclear power industry, and uranium, the raw material for reactor fuel, was about to become a hot commodity. In late 2004, Mr. Giustra began talking to investors, and put together a company that would eventually be called UrAsia Energy Ltd.
Kazakhstan, which has about one-fifth of the world's uranium reserves, was the place to be. But with plenty of suitors, Kazatomprom could be picky about its partners.
"Everyone was asking Kazatomprom to the dance," said Fadi Shadid, a senior stock analyst covering the uranium industry for Friedman Billings Ramsey, an investment bank. "A second-tier junior player like UrAsia — you'd need all the help you could get."
The Cameco Corporation, the world's largest uranium producer, was already a partner of Kazatomprom. But when Cameco expressed interest in the properties Mr. Giustra was already eying, the government's response was lukewarm. "The signals we were getting was, you've got your hands full," said Gerald W. Grandey, Cameco president.
For Cameco, it took five years to "build the right connections" in Kazakhstan, Mr. Grandey said. UrAsia did not have that luxury. Profitability depended on striking before the price of uranium soared.
"Timing was everything," said Sergey Kurzin, a Russian-born businessman whose London-based company was brought into the deal by UrAsia because of his connections in Kazakhstan. Even with those connections, Mr. Kurzin said, it took four months to arrange a meeting with Kazatomprom.
In August 2005, records show, the company sent an engineering consultant to Kazakhstan to assess the uranium properties. Less than four weeks later, Mr. Giustra arrived with Mr. Clinton.
Mr. Dzhakishev, the Kazatomprom chief, said an aide to Mr. Nazarbayev informed him that Mr. Giustra talked with Mr. Nazarbayev about the deal during the visit. "And when our president asked Giustra, 'What do you do?' he said, 'I'm trying to do business with Kazatomprom,' " Mr. Dzhakishev said. He added that Mr. Nazarbayev replied, "Very good, go to it."
Mr. Clinton's Kazakhstan visit, the only one of his post-presidency, appears to have been arranged hastily. The United States Embassy got last-minute notice that the president would be making "a private visit," said a State Department official, who said he was not authorized to speak on the record.
The publicly stated reason for the visit was to announce a Clinton Foundation agreement that enabled the government to buy discounted AIDS drugs. But during a news conference, Mr. Clinton wandered into delicate territory by commending Mr. Nazarbayev for "opening up the social and political life of your country." In a statement Kazakhstan would highlight in news releases, Mr. Clinton declared that he hoped it would achieve a top objective: leading the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which would confer legitimacy on Mr. Nazarbayev's government.
"I think it's time for that to happen, it's an important step, and I'm glad you're willing to undertake it," Mr. Clinton said.
A Speedy Process
Mr. Clinton's praise was odd, given that the United States did not support Mr. Nazarbayev's bid. (Late last year, Kazakhstan finally won the chance to lead the security organization for one year, despite concerns raised by the Bush administration.) Moreover, Mr. Clinton's wife, who sits on a Congressional commission with oversight of such matters, had also voiced skepticism.
Eleven months before Mr. Clinton's statement, Mrs. Clinton co-signed a commission letter to the State Department that sounded "alarm bells" about the prospect that Kazakhstan might head the group. [$131Million to the Clinton Foundation speaks a LOT louder to Clinton Slime.] The letter stated that Kazakhstan's bid "would not be acceptable," citing "serious corruption," canceled elections and government control of the news media.
In a written statement to The Times, Mr. Clinton's spokesman said the former president saw "no contradiction" between his statements in Kazakhstan and the position of Mrs. Clinton, who said through a spokeswoman, "Senator Clinton's position on Kazakhstan remains unchanged."
Noting that the former president also met with opposition leaders in Almaty, Mr. Clinton's spokesman said he was only "seeking to suggest that a commitment to political openness and to fair elections would reflect well on Kazakhstan's efforts to chair the O.S.C.E."
But Robert Herman, who worked for the State Department in the Clinton administration and is now at Freedom House, a human rights group, said the former president's statement amounted to an endorsement of Kazakhstan's readiness to lead the group, a position he called "patently absurd."
"He was either going off his brief or he was sadly mistaken," Mr. Herman said. "There was nothing in the record to suggest that they really wanted to move forward on democratic reform."
Indeed, in December 2005, Mr. Nazarbayev won another election, which the security organization itself said was marred by an "atmosphere of intimidation" and "ballot-box stuffing."
After Mr. Nazarbayev won with 91 percent of the vote, Mr. Clinton sent his congratulations. "Recognizing that your work has received an excellent grade is one of the most important rewards in life," Mr. Clinton wrote in a letter released by the Kazakh embassy. Last September, just weeks after Kazakhstan held an election that once again failed to meet international standards, Mr. Clinton honored Mr. Nazarbayev by inviting him to his annual philanthropic conference.
Within 48 hours of Mr. Clinton's departure from Almaty on Sept. 7, Mr. Giustra got his deal. UrAsia signed two memorandums of understanding that paved the way for the company to become partners with Kazatomprom in three mines.
The cost to UrAsia was more than $450 million, money the company did not have in hand and had only weeks to come up with. The transaction was finalized in November, after UrAsia raised the money through the largest initial public offering in the history of Canada's Venture Exchange.
Mr. Giustra challenged the notion that UrAsia needed to court Kazatomprom's favor to seal the deal, contending that the government agency's approval was not required.
But Mr. Dzhakishev, analysts and Mr. Kurzin, one of Mr. Giustra's own investors, said that approval was necessary. Mr. Dzhakishev, who said that the deal was almost done when Mr. Clinton arrived, said that Kazatomprom was impressed with the sum Mr. Giustra was willing to pay and his record of attracting investors. He said Mr. Nazarbayev himself ultimately signed off on the transaction.
Longtime market watchers were confounded. Kazatomprom's choice of UrAsia was a "mystery," said Gene Clark, the chief executive of Trade Tech, a uranium industry newsletter. [Bottom line: Clinton Slime closed the deal at crunch time in exchange for Money and Praising a dicator as a democrat. Nothing unusual here.]
"UrAsia was able to jump-start the whole process somehow," Mr. Clark said. The company became a "major uranium producer when it didn't even exist before."
A Profitable Sale
Records show that Mr. Giustra donated the $31.3 million to the Clinton Foundation in the months that followed in 2006, but neither he nor a spokesman for Mr. Clinton would say exactly when.
In September 2006, Mr. Giustra co-produced a gala 60th birthday for Mr. Clinton that featured stars like Jon Bon Jovi and raised about $21 million for the Clinton Foundation.
In February 2007, a company called Uranium One agreed to pay $3.1 billion to acquire UrAsia. Mr. Giustra, a director and major shareholder in UrAsia, would be paid $7.05 per share for a company that just two years earlier was trading at 10 cents per share.
That same month, Mr. Dzhakishev, the Kazatomprom chief, said he traveled to Chappaqua, N.Y., to meet with Mr. Clinton at his home. Mr. Dzhakishev said Mr. Giustra arranged the three-hour meeting. Mr. Dzhakishev said he wanted to discuss Kazakhstan's intention — not publicly known at the time — to buy a 10 percent stake in Westinghouse, a United States supplier of nuclear technology.
Nearly a year earlier, Mr. Clinton had advised Dubai on how to handle the political furor after one of that nation's companies attempted to take over several American ports. Mrs. Clinton was among those on Capitol Hill who raised the national security concerns that helped kill the deal.
Mr. Dzhakishev said he was worried the proposed Westinghouse investment could face similar objections. Mr. Clinton told him that he would not lobby for him, but Mr. Dzhakishev came away pleased by the chance to promote his nation's proposal to a former president.
Mr. Clinton "said this was very important for America," said Mr. Dzhakishev, who added that Mr. Giustra was present at Mr. Clinton's home.
Both Mr. Clinton and Mr. Giustra at first denied that any such meeting occurred. Mr. Giustra also denied ever arranging for Kazakh officials to meet with Mr. Clinton. Wednesday, after The Times told them that others said a meeting, in Mr. Clinton's home, had in fact taken place, both men acknowledged it. [Liar, liar, pants on fire.]
"You are correct that I asked the president to meet with the head of Kazatomprom," Mr. Giustra said. "Mr. Dzhakishev asked me in February 2007 to set up a meeting with former President Clinton to discuss the future of the nuclear energy industry." Mr. Giustra said the meeting "escaped my memory until you raised it."
Wednesday, Mr. Clinton's spokesman, Ben Yarrow, issued what he called a "correction," saying: "Today, Mr. Giustra told our office that in February 2007, he brought Mr. Dzhakishev from Kazatomprom to meet with President Clinton to discuss the future of nuclear energy."
Mr. Yarrow said his earlier denial was based on the former president's records, which he said "show a Feb. 27 meeting with Mr. Giustra; no other attendees are listed."
Mr. Dzhakishev said he had a vivid memory of his Chappaqua visit, and a souvenir to prove it: a photograph of himself with the former president.
"I hung up the photograph of us and people ask me if I met with Clinton and I say, Yes, I met with Clinton," he said, smiling proudly.
David L. Stern and Margot Williams contributed reporting.
THE BOTTOM LINE: HILLARY IS IRRESPONSIBLE WITH POWER

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Many in the West often ask "what would Jesus do?" when assessing a situation, political or social.At this site and link you can check what would Mohammad do.CLICK ON TITLE / SUBJECT TO GO TO ARTICLE
Then tell me you are stupid enough to appease those who think and preach and sponsor the Jihad.

The Global economy, starting with the USA may be on the verge of crashing, bringing misery to tens or hundreds of millions in the domino effect. Islamic Jihad's insidious seepage and intrusion into the Western culture moves ever faster forward, untrammeled and unopposed except by a few voices like this site. We must be causing some pain to the Mullahs when we repeatedly show the senseless executions for unspecified (trumped up charges). The Islamic regime has banned the taking of video or pictures of executions and spreading them.In contrast to some 20 "murderers" executed in the first 20 days of January 2008, I remember during the time of the late-Shah, there were about two, perhaps three (in a bad year) premeditated murders in ONE given YEAR, that faced or were given a death penalty.This Islamic regime of so-called "peace" executes more people in 20-DAYS than the previous one, the Monarchy, did in 15-YEARS.Eventually this "Islam of pieces" will lead to a global change in Western lifestyles to repressive obedience of an Allah and his unbelievably violent and harsh prophet, who talks from 1,400 years ago only in terms of rape, slavery, death and destruction.So, from time to time, we need the soothing tones of someone like Divna, trained as a choral singer, to soothe our fevered brow. If only for a temporary respite. Since we tend to seethe at the blindness and denial of the very people most in danger.Enjoy!

Monday, January 28, 2008

IN CASE YOU FORGET OR ARE IN DENIAL - THIS IS A CLOSE LOOK AT ISLAM - AND WHAT YOU FACE BY CONDONING AND APPEASING IT. WHAT YOU PERMIT TO HAPPEN BY YOUR SILENCE. PERHAPS IT TAKES SEEING IT FIRST HAND - SO LOOK!!!KNOWING THE FARSI LANGUAGE YOU HEAR IS IRRELEVANT, LET YOUR EYES UNDERSTAND AND YOUR BRAIN WAKE UP.

Kayhan Editor Close To Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei: 'America and Its European Supporters Must Know... That the Price of Supporting [Israel] Will Cost Them the Property and Lives of Their Citizens... If the Heads of Some Islamic States Prevent the Muslim Peoples from Attacking the Zionists... They Can Be Toppled'
In a January 26 op-ed in the Iranian daily Kayhan, the paper's editor, Hossein Shariatmadari, who is close to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, called on Muslims to unite in a retaliatory attack on American, European, and Israeli "sensitive centers" because of "the war crimes that these countries are committing in the Gaza Strip" and because of their support for Israel.
In his op-ed, Shar'iatmadari stressed that American and European civilians must be harmed in these attacks, so as to make the U.S. and the European countries change their policy towards Israel. He further called for harming Israelis worldwide, and explained that Islamic regimes that prevent an Islamic attack on Israel must be toppled, because they are defending the enemy. Following are excerpts from Sharatmadari's op-ed, which was titled "The Defenders of the Enemy":
"The slaughter being carried out by the Zionists in Gaza – which includes the mass murder of Palestinian men, women, and children, cutting off the electricity, water, and fuel, stopping the supply of medicines and food products – along with various other savage crimes, is disgraceful for the Zionists, and for America and its European allies.
"However, it is even more embarrassing and disgraceful for, first and foremost, the heads of several Islamic countries, [including] Egypt, that is insisting on adhering to the abject Camp David Accords and closing the Rafah border crossing [to the Palestinians]; for the cowardly and characterless rulers of Bahrain and the U.A.E., who awarded a prize to the murderer [i.e. President Bush] of the oppressed Palestinian people during his recent trip to the region; and for the Saudi [royal] family, that bears the appellation 'Custodian of the Two Holy Places' but is indifferent to the crimes and violations of the infidel Zionists in the Muslim holy places, and so on.
"But aren't most of the sensitive centers of the Zionists, of the Americans, and of some European states that support Israel already situated within the arms' reach of the Muslims? And aren't the Zionists [vulnerable] and located within arms' reach of the Muslims at the four corners of the earth? What human and legal basis can prevent an attack on these centers and people?
Why must the savage, blood-letting Zionists and Americans be permitted to choose the field of battle as they wish? [Why are they permitted] to besiege the oppressed Palestinian brothers and sisters and their children, on the land that belongs to that helpless people, and to shoot at them night and day and to massacre them?
"America and its European and Zionist supporters must know that their support for Israel's crimes will cost them very dearly. Once they discern that this support will cost them the property and lives of their citizens, they will doubtless reconsider their support for the savage Zionists...
And didn't the Imam [Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini] teach that if every Muslim pours out one bucket of water, there will be a flood that will sweep away Israel, and destroy it?
"Every time a movement rises up against the Zionist occupier and acts to liberate its homeland, America and its allies accuse it of terrorism, and every state that supports these movements is punished. Why wouldn't the Muslims act the same way, and attack all the supporters of the Zionists everywhere in the world?
"The prevalent legal doctrine in both the Shi'ite school and the Sunni school is that it is permissible to attack anyone whom the enemy uses as a shield in the war against the enemies of Islam.
Therefore, if some heads of Islamic states prevent the Muslim peoples from attacking the Zionists – thus constituting a shield that prevents support to the persecuted people of that region – it permissible to topple these defenders of the enemy." COMMENTS from some Free Republic posters:So basically this muslim is against the 'murdering of civilians in Gaza', but calls other muslims to do the same with our citizens...Coexistence with these people is impossible. That’s a fact. It’s either them or us.Religion of Peace, huh?So, when Sens. Obama, Clinton or Edwards wants to have a dialog with the Iranians, just where do we start?Exactly. The west should stop the "war crimes" of sending money, food, fuel, electricity, and medical aid to the 'palis' (Palestinians).These idiots seem to think that while civilized people do their best NOT to harm civilians and non-combatants during war, there will come a time where they just piss us off to the point where we will say "ENOUGH!" and then they'll learn the price that the people of Dresden and Tokyo paid during WWII.
It will be sad to see tens or hundreds of thousands of civilians in Iran killed, but it will be the direct fault of leaders like this.=====The tens of billions that have been poured into this cesspool known as the Palestinian Authorithy have spawned only vileness, hate, and mass murder. The’ve received more than enough money to build a great society for them all.
The more Israel gives the so-called “Palestinians,” the more hateful these murderous Islamic terrorists get. Palestine is the homeland of the Jews, as all the world knew until the recent myths of “Palestinian homeland” were cooked up by the Palestinian authority and its handlers and patsies abroad.The Palestinian Authority has been given pretty much everything it told the world it wanted, but, predictably, the Arab promises all turned out to be lies. The PA signed the Oslo Accords, but did absolutely nothing they promised. The world imposed no penalty for not following through and only gave them more money and more weapons. Israel followed through on everything it promised at Oslo.
All the Palestinian Arabs know how to do is to teach their children to kill. People come from around the world with ideas and programs to build peace; the Palestinian Arabs laugh in private at the naivite of the West, but they take their money.
Any fairminded person who thinks that civilized negotiation is possible with the Palestinian Arabs has been asleep for at least 41 years. These people must be repatriated to surrounding Arab countries where must of them have their roots in any case - under internatinal law this program would be a fair exchange for the the Jews who had to leave Arab lands in 1948. Israel is the one and only homeland of the Jews and it’s tiny. The Arabs have 19 vast countries, yet they have left their brethern in refugeee camps for generations - some brethren the Arabs are!Arab citizens of Israels who are loyal to the state of Israel would of course stay put in Israel and enjoy the benefits and services of Israeli citizenship they already enjoy.=====Iran and Syria are the nuclei of the radical Islamic threat.They are the core threat today in the Middle East. As many know, Iran has been emboldened and rewarded over the years for engaging in these activities. Our inaction after British sailors were taken captive is but one small example, nor was it the first. Our withdrawal of troops after the Beirut bombing, something Iran was behind is another example in historical context. The lack of action after Iranian agents went on a killing spree in Europe years past, or the direct threats of their leaders against foreign leaders with complete inaction from the West all adds to this perception. Realize that some of Iran’s senior leaders in their military are actually personally involved with the murders of people in Europe and on the “wanted” list. Their direct meddling in Iraq which includes EFP, IR sensors, MANPADS, 50 cal sniper rifles, GPS (Improves mortar accuracy), money, intelligence and advisors even; despite this killing our troops we’re not willing to take action. You have mock (testing) attacks on ships and there too we do nothing nor was the latest bout unique and new, it’s happened several times. In 2006 Iran de facto waged a somewhat successful, at least in their eyes, war against Israel, all funded and logistical supported through back door intelligence channels by Iran, with complete impunity once again. (Hezbollah in Lebanon).
It’s real simple. Iran over the years has been “taught” that they can achieve their foreign policy objectives through terrorism. They, as in the state of Iran, created some of the terrorist groups found today committing some of these acts! Some of their most senior leaders are no kidding terrorists on a “wanted” list, but even that is downplayed and governments like in Austria where some of these attacks occurred are willing to sell nearly anything to them. What does that tell Iran?
So, now we’re all supposed to be shocked that their leaders advocate more of the same, which they see as being a highly fruitful way to do business? If something in your life brings good results and costs you little, what do you generally do?====Do you remember the details of the Vienna assassinations?Basically, three Kurd delegates were murdered during a meeting in Vienna by Iranian agents. The interesting part is that one of the hit-men at the time (I think it was about 1988 - I still lived in Europe at the time) rose to the rank of general and is a key leader who’s planning things like the arms that are flowing into Iraq or the mock attacks on our ships. Towards the end of the Iran - Iraq war, Iran went on a literal killing spree in the Middle East, Europe, and parts of Africa. Dissidents, opposition leaders, people the regime simply didn’t like were dealt with since the resources were now no longer tied up fighting Iraq. While all this was going on you had a Europe that more or less was in denial and thrilled over the end of the Cold War as the wall came down in 1989. But the fact that Rushdie needed armed security 24-7 for his novel “Satanic verses” published 1988 and motivating Khomeini to issue a fatwa for his death seems to not even make most Europeans think there might be a slight problem.Alan Note: ONE OF THE ASSASSINS WAS THE CURRENT PRESIDENT OF IRAN MAHMOUD AHMADI-NEJAD, WHO ALSO GOT THE NICKNAME OF "ENDING SHOT" FOR HIS PUTTING BULLETS INTO THE BACK OF THE SKULLS OF THOSE EXECUTED BY FIRING SQUADS TO MAKE SURE THEY WERE TRULY DEAD!=====“I think Barak O’Barnum ought to sit down and talk w/ these people and share his vision of a brighter tomorrow. “ (Sarasm)I wonder how he’ll be received in these countries, him being an apostate and all. (Apostates are condemned to death by religious tribunals).=====The scary thing is that the Soviets, while bent on our destruction, were predictable and rational. These guys aren’t.
Even today Russia is no friend of the West but we really don’t need to worry too much about them shooting something our way. Iran on the other hand is a nation that was more or less seized by a bunch of nut cases. These guys are ruthless, guided by some (unusual) Islamic based ideology, and life itself is meaningless in value. There is no democratic process, no rule of law, no adherence to international laws or convention. You’re dealing with a nation that operates like a big “gang.”This regime has entrenched itself into Iran at this point, and terrorism is seen as a viable way to advance national policy. Those who deny this reality usually avoid bringing up terms like “The Islamic Revolution,” and they usually don’t want to discuss what that means. The people in denial usually won’t mention Hezbollah and who founded them and is backing this group even today. Do you think it is a coincidence that the Europeans don’t officially recognize Hezbollah as a terrorist group? Did you know that? The EU does not even see this group as a terrorist organization, why? What are the consequences if they do?
“The capitalist will sell you the rope with which you’ll hang him.” (Stalin).Not only are we unwilling to take action against Iran, you have many in the West who pride themselves (not so much anymore) with their trade with these guys (i.e. Austria, Germany, etc.) and these are Western nations threatened by this regime and state. So while moderate Lebanese leaders are assassinated, one after the other with Syria and Iran’s finger prints all over it, you have the Europeans saying they’re shocked and appalled” but unwilling to do anything about it. Several in Europe in the meantime are running around theorizing about some grand conspiracy of the US to steal their national secrets in a NSA facility based in Bad Ailbling which gave the host nation access while their government turns a blind eye to sales of all sorts of hardware which is dual use to Iran. Ever wonder what brand trucks the Iranians prefer for their rocket and missile launchers?
A carrot and stick approach makes sense, especially when dealing with someone who operates on the lower rungs of Maslow’s hierarchy. You have a ruthless group of thugs; a West that does not really want to take action and does not stand united, even profiteering from trading and business with someone that wants to essentially slit their throat; and then you condition them that their behavior may it be with WMD, missile programs, playing with terrorism, hostages, mining the water ways etc. can indeed give them the results they desire. Iran is a monster, and waiting isn’t going to help.

Original, lively song to which these words were adapted in the VIDEO at the end. Enjoy! And play the new version if you have a band.Slick Willy to the rescue Slick Willy to the rescueSlick Willy to the rescue
Go, Slick WillyGo, Slick Willy
Slick Willy tell a big ol’ liePoint a finger right in yo eyeDummycrats they don’ give a damnStill certain that he da man
Slick Willy to the rescueGo, Slick WillyGo Slick Willy
Slick Willy love th’ TV newsScarfin pizza with the cam’ra crewsSlick Willy he the kinda guyHate t’ see his ol’ lady cry
Slick Willy to the rescueGo, Slick WillyGo, Slick Willy
Slick Willy to the rescueSlick Willy to the rescueSlick Willy to the rescue
Go, Slick WillyGo, Slick Willy
Slick Willy see dat Hill behindGots t’ he’p her get outta dat bindPoint a finger in d’ newsman faceGet his mama back in d’ race
Slick Willy to the rescueGo, Slick WillyGo, Slick Willy
Slick Willy take the heat off HillLet the media get mad at BillGet his picture on the Times front pageBlowin up in a defensive rage
Slick Willy to the rescueGo, Slick WillyGo, Slick Willy
Now Obama don’t know what to doGotta fight ‘em both two by twoSlick can operate a smear campaignPolitics be his home ground terrain
Slick Willy to the rescueGo, Slick WillyGo, Slick Willy
With Hillary as Madame PresidentWilly back in charge of governmentConstitution don’ mean a thingWilly back where he can pull the string
Slick Willy to the rescueGo, Slick WillyGo, Slick Willy
Slick Willy to the rescueSlick Willy to the rescueSlick Willy to the rescue
Go, Slick WillyGo, Slick Willy

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Last week was a really tough week in Iran but an excellent example of life over there.First, a winter freeze and heavy, deep snowfall paralyzed much of the country, including the capital city. So what? All countries have bad weather.So the country with the world's second largest reserves of natural petroleum gas, could not supply gas for cooking nor for heating to most of the country in any quantity that came close to the needs of the people. Mostly none at all!The infrastructure was there, the natural petroleum gas was absent! Fuel for vehicles is already rationed and prevents Iranians from driving any distance, one of the aims of the Suppression Forces to control movement within the country. Unless by easily checked and controlled bus, train or airline. (Shades of the Soviet Union? Hitler Germany?)The shortage brutally hit four of the coldest provinces in the North of Iran - mostly because any available gas piped to those regions was being exported to neighboring Turkomanistan, a former Soviet Republic, for money and some barter, instead of being used to look after the Iranian populace's urgent needs.When the situation became impossibly desperate, the Mullahs stopped exporting to Western ally, Turkey, to try to relieve some of the disasterous policy they had implemented.And with $14 BILLION missing from Ahmadi-Nejad's budget accounts and some HALF MILLION destitute street kids and at least 100,000 abandoned women, in danger of freezing to death just in the capital Tehran's streets, with billions more being donated to terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah and to Syria to buy Russian arms and destabiize Lebanon and destroy Israel, none of this Turkoman money is being spent on the well-being of Iranians.In fact, some 500 students at Tehran University protested the poor quality of food in their cafeteria. When confronted by the Mullah regime's armed and intolerant Suppression Forces, whose only duties lie in snuffing out any sign of dissent or protest, student numbers swelled to some 1,500 and the authorities became violent, beating anyone in range with batons and arresting dozens of them.For protesting about the quality of their food! Not even the freedom to lodge a NON-political protest is allowed by the Mullahs. And we want to apply our Western mindsets to deal with them? To negotiate? To plan a "reasoned" future behavior by them? Whom are we kidding? Or are we avoiding the reality of truth?And yet U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice talks of reconciliation with the Islamic regime. If they stop enriching uranium.The value of extending temporary global safety onlyperhapsthus achieved, apparently overrides the value to the USA of the Iranian peoples' well being even if it means the Mullahs remain in power. Thank goodness the former #3 in the State Dept., Burns, a relentless advocate of prolonged, negotiated appeasement with Iran, has resigned. Hopefully his replacement - also named Burns - will burn a different policy path - which includes saving the Iranian people, too.

Meanwhile, the Islamic oversight for "qualification" of candidates for parliamentary (Majliss) elections in March 2008, (granting permission to run - in "free" elections) has rejected "only" about a third of the candidates - according to Deputy Interior Minister, Afshar, though this rises to over 2,000 rejections.Once again the alleged and farcical freedoms inferred by the Mullah claim to democratic "elections" are null and void when candidates get hand picked for pro-regime views and rejected for:Having or having had a sympathy for the former monarchy or systems in place at that time.Having a sympathy for any other kind of political system (in other words not "Velayat Faghigh" - rule by theocracy).Having a sympathy for laws that are disapproved by the Mullah regime. (Anything that gives freedom to the people, something Khomeini openly ridiculed).For having insufficient fervor for hard line Islam.For having insufficient fervor for the ruling Mullah leadership members.For supporting the "wrong" Mullahs like Rafsanjani or Kahroobi or reformists. (Official language avoids names but clearly infers such men).For lack of sufficient Islamic knowledge. (According to hard line tenets).For anti-Mullah activity - which can be anything like having a meal with the wrong person, leaving the country without permission, voicing discontent with the status quo, WATCHING a demonstration by others, helping a woman avoid arrest by the morals police, criticizing a member of the Suppression Forces or Revolutionary Guard, etc., etc. - or anything a clerical judge or court decides fits.NOTE: 194 of those REJECTED are current Members of Parliament serving today! The regime did not like their past votes so they have banned them from running again. Yes, Western World governments and dhimmis and apologists for this inhumane Mullah regime, free elections and democratic freedom, indeed! My foot!Dariush Mehrjooi, an expatriate, prominent Persian movie director has just finished a full length film depicting social life in Iran - which the mullahs promptly banned and confiscated. (Now being shown in California and some other venues). The movie shows the depth of drug addiction in the miserable populace (as high as 30% by many estimates, even 50% by others) and also gives the woman star a much higher level character role than other films about life in Iran. Good depiction of social reality and worth seeing (Persian language) with rave revues from audiences, including one woman who said this is the first depiction of a woman in Islamic Iran that did not "make my skin crawl".Also in the news, Russia has delivered the first 11kg of nuclear mateiral to Iran and plans to complete delivery of the rest in February. And Iran has openly told the European Union and the "Five" plus Germany that since the NIE (National Intelligence Estimate) "officially stated" Iran was not making a nuclear bomb, all sanctions are moot and should be cancelled.And the whole matter should be removed from the United Nations and returned to the (very friendly to them) IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), where top dog El-Baradei has consistently done everything to protect Islamic Iran and delay any strong action against them.Iran insists that nothing will prevent them from enriching uranium so tell the West to back off and stop wasting their time. They do not listen to criticism anyway, including protests about their having recently executed some17 or so youths (both genders) who had not yet reached the age of 18-years.In closing, perhaps the least recognized MAJOR danger is the flood of Palestinians who blew up the border wall to Egypt and flooded many, many thousand people over into Egypt.Here it was to buy supplies that had become in short supply with Israel closing their border with Gaza to try to stop rocket attacks. The NEXT step to watch for is a flood of Palestinians doing the same and creating a human mini-Tsunami intoIsrael, where they reach population centers immediately.This strategy has been a decades old, UNPUBLICIZED major plan the Palestinians have titled "The Second Exodus" but did not have a good entry channel till now(like the Gaza Strip).The "semi-secret" plan also foresees emptying every refugee camp inside all Arab countries and organizing a HUGE human flood to drive the Israelis into the sea or second Exodus by sheer weight of numbers of UNarmed Palestinians. (An estimated two to three MILLION warm bodies!)They rely on Israel not having enough ammunition, let alone the resolve, to mow down that size of incursion. And it would be too close to their own citizenry to use nuclear or bio-weapons of mass destruction. And they believe Egypt would also be overwhelmed and, moreover, reluctant to take action against these Palestinians.Wake up Western world and gear up to handle the threat of Islam and terrorism more forcefully than the British Prime Minister did, when apologizing for, appeasing and dealing with the threat of Hitler till it was way too late.DO NOT REPEAT HISTORY AT ITS WORST! TILL NOW, THAT IS.Hitler and the Nazis did not cause a fraction of ONE PERCENT of the harm we will endure from Islamic Jihad if not stopped in its tracks. The deaths of 50 Million people, in that era, will be a drop in the ocean of the global death and misery that will descend on us physically and financially.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

"OUR FEAR OF TERROR IS GREATER THAN OUR LOVE FOR FREEDOM" Stated here regarding the plight of Islamic women but is the case of Islamic Iran where unspeakablebrutality by the Mullah Regime has intentionally created this status in the populace, it keeps the regime in power.The Mullahs are not in power because the people love or even want them but because the people are terrified of them.These Mullahs simply "erase" their challenges by death and torture. And their claims of "democratic rule" becomes clearly a farce when they disqualified all the "reformist" candidates who wanted to run for "parliament".The Oversight by the "beneficial graces" (savaab)Committee simply denied anyone not on their list of Islamic fundementalists and pro-Mullah supporters he right to run for office.Democracy Islamic Style (an oxymoronic appellation like the marxist-Islamists who created the Khomeini revolution). If your allegiance can/must ONLY be to Allah and NO other authority - secular or religious (of any other faith) - then where is the free will to choose your path in life?In Iran a discordant choice or voice brings immediate pain and death as retribution.Fear of the Mullahs transcends the "forbidden" wish for freedom of any kind.NOTE: because of the dependent ties of the Mullah regime to Russia and China, about five months ago they had to bow to pressure and accept Communism as a political movement, free to form an "opposition" party and platform.However, in typical Mullah fashion used so successfully in negotiations with the West, after apparently conceding to the pressure, they found out who all these leftists were and are now arresting and killing them under various guises of false, even improbablecivil crimes."OUR FEAR OF TERROR IS GREATER THAN OUR LOVE FOR FREEDOM" CLICK ON LINK BELOW TO VIEW VIDEOhttp://link3.streamhoster.com/?u=seanruiz&p=/National_Events/07-1022_IFAW/07-1023_VOOW_videol.wmv&odaid=3637

An Iranian student detained in the capital of Iran's Kurdistan Province has died in prison under circumstances described by his family and human rights activists as "suspicious," Radio Farda reported.On January 15, nine days after Ebrahim Lotfollahi was detained in front of Payame Nur University in the provincial capital, Sanandaj, officials told his family that he had committed suicide while in prison and died of "suffocation."
It is unclear why Lotfollahi was detained in the first place.
Witnesses say he had just finished taking an exam when security officials took him away. Officials were reported as saying they wanted to give him some "explanations," but no more details were offered.
His family says the aspiring lawyer had no reason to take his own life. Ebrahim, they say, was full of "hope in life" -- an avid reader who served part-time as a social worker.
His brother, Ismail, told Radio Farda that Ebrahim was "well" when he last saw him, two days after his arrest. "He said he would be released," Ismail said. "He said he needed a few razors and some other things."
Officials said Lotfollahi has already been buried at the city's Beheshte Mohammadi Cemetery.
But Ismail Lotfollahi says family members, who were not allowed to see the body, are calling for an autopsy. "Nobody has seen the body, [but] they said he's there," Ismail said. "A few days after they buried him there, they covered the grave with concrete."
"We don't know what to do. We haven't seen his body; we don't know whether he was suffocated," he said. "They had taken him there and done everything -- we were informed about nothing."
Saman Rasulpour, a Sanandaj-based journalist and member of the Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan, said Lotfollahi's death and the conditions surrounding it are unprecedented in the region.
But he added that this case appears similar to that of another student: Zahra Bani Yaghoub, a 27-year-old who died in prison in the western city of Hamedan in October shortly after she was detained by the morality police while out for a stroll with her boyfriend.
In Yaghoub's case, officials also said that she committed suicide, but her family accused the police of murdering her. They said her body was bruised and that there was blood in her ears.
Bani Yaghub's family and human rights advocates including Nobel Peace Prize-winner Shirin Ebadi have also called for an autopsy in her case. But some observers say there is little chance officials will grant it. Lotfollahi's family has insisted, however, that they will pursue the case and push for an autopsy. They say officials are responsible for the student's death in prison.
The news of Lotfollahi's death was made public only on January 17, but Rasulpour said it has already led to concern among rights advocates and civil society activists in the region.
Rasulpour told Radio Farda that his organization is supporting Lotfollahi's family in its pursuit of the truth. "We will first try to find a lawyer for this family, which is a very innocent and poor family, to pursue the case through legal channels," Rasulpour said. "This is a suspicious death for us human rights activists, and security forces were responsible for his life and they have to give answers."
The deaths in prison of Lotfollahi and Bani Yaghoub bear similarities to the 2003 unsolved death in prison of Iranian-Canadian photographer Zahra Kazemi. Kazemi had been arrested for taking pictures of families of political prisoners in front of Tehran's notorious Evin prison. A few days later, Kazemi died of a brain hemorrhage after being transferred to a hospital.
Officials first said she had died of a stroke before later saying her head had hit a hard object and led to her death. Reports suggested she had been beaten in prison and received head injuries during interrogations.
Some five years after her death, no one has been held responsible and her case was recently sent to an appeal court for further review, although her family has said it has little confidence that Iranian justice will punish those responsible.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Enjoy the Martin Luther King Holiday with an interesting set of reads below - AND
Latest Terror & Conflict is up on the TERROR NEWS page.http://terrornewsbriefs.blogspot.com/AND Politics titled ODDS & ENDS on RUTHLESS ROUNDUPhttp://alanpetersroundup.blogspot.com/2008/01/odds-ends-0121.htmlLast May, a Saudi Arabian conglomerate bought a Massachusetts plastics maker. In November, a French company established a new factory in Adrian, Mich., adding 189 automotive jobs to an area accustomed to layoffs. In December, a British company bought a New Jersey maker of cough syrup.----For much of the world, the United States is now on sale at discount prices. Foreign investors from Saudi and the Persian Gulf are also buying into our banks and financial institutions to an extent where they can very soon control us via threat of sinking this or that institution. As these buyers are predominantly of Moslem origin, we may soon be obliged to accomodate Islamic sharia rules.Already a significant number of our major banks have begun quietly setting up "Islamic Banking" rules and regulations inside their organizations.With credit tight, unemployment growing and worries mounting about a potential recession, American business and government leaders are courting foreign money to keep the economy growing. Foreign investors are buying aggressively, taking advantage of American duress and a weak dollar to snap up what many see as bargains, while making inroads to the world’s largest market. --===============A top architect of the Bush administration's policy of greater diplomatic engagement announced his resignation Friday amid signs that U.S. efforts on key issues have been losing momentum.----R. Nicholas Burns, the State Department's third-ranking official and one of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's closest aides, said he would leave his post in March for personal reasons.--Burns was a key member of the State Department inner circle that helped Rice formulate the strategy that began moving U.S. policy toward diplomatic conciliation beginning in 2005.But U.S. efforts on Iran have lost international credibility, and the nuclear deal with India has been obstructed by politics in that country. Kosovo's majority ethnic Albanians and Serbs are at an impasse, and some observers fear a violent upheaval there.--Conservatives have seen Burns as a symbol of what they consider a dangerous drift by the administration toward a policy of appeasement.--Burns said there was no truth to reports that he was interested in running for the U.S. Senate as a Democrat from his home state of Massachusetts.============MADRID — Police arrested 14 suspected Islamic militants early Saturday, amid fears that the men were plotting a terrorist attack in Barcelona, the interior minister said.----The suspects, 12 Pakistanis and two Indians, were arrested less than two months before national elections.--Apparently they were caught studying how tomake bombs.==========TEHRAN — In early December, a surprising scene unfolded at Tehran University: 500 Marxist students held aloft portraits of Che Guevara to protest President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s policies. Smaller groups of Marxist students held similar protests in several other cities. ----Political protest has been harshly suppressed under the current Iranian government, especially dissent linked to the West. But the radical left, despite its antireligious and antigovernment message, has been permitted relative freedom. This may be, analysts say, because, like the government, it rejects the liberal reform movement and attacks the West. ----“The government practically permitted the left to operate starting five years ago so that they would confront religious liberals,” said Saeed Leylaz, a political analyst in Tehran. “But that led to the spread of a new virus.” --NOTE: How ironic that the same type of philosphical movement the Soviets unleashed to overthrow the Monarchy in 1979, which brought Khomeini to power, now may prove the undoing of the Mullahs. Specially as the Marxiat-Islamist MEK (Mojaheddin-e Khalgh) have begun to operate uner this umbrella and the HATE the Mullahs beyond belief.========TEHRAN — Sanctions weren't supposed to hurt Majid Taleghani. But the Iranian book publisher says they have forced him to increase prices and scale back the number of titles he issues.----'In the past few weeks, the price of South Korean paper has soared at least 25%,' Taleghani complained, chain-smoking nervously. 'Why? South Korean banks refuse to open letters of credit. They won't work with Iranian banks anymore.'--But on the streets and in the shops of Tehran, the capital, sanctions have had a visible effect, diminishing the ability of merchants and consumers to buy goods from Europe, forcing them to opt for cheaper Asian imports.----Prices of most goods, including French perfumes and German printing plates, have increased 50% in the last four months, merchants say, a result of the extra cost of doing business through Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, instead of directly with foreign manufacturers and distributors. Many of those firms are wary of doing business with Iran lest they come under the scrutiny of the U.S. Treasury Department, which has begun aggressively targeting companies with ties to both the United States and Iran.----'Now, doing business with anywhere other than China or Russia is too much of a pain,' said Ali-Reza Morshed Razam, owner of an eyeglasses shop on Palestine Street, in downtown Tehran.--But some Iran experts say the Bush administration's sanctions strategy reflects a misreading of Iranian political dynamics.One scholar likened the American and Western European thinking to that of Marxist and anarchist revolutionaries of Central Europe in the 1920s who believed that the people would rise up against capitalist elites if the economy worsened.--=========IS THIS MEXICAN BORDER TOWN SITUATION A MICROCOSM OF WHAT THE USA IN PARTICULAR AND THE WEST IN GENERAL FACE (STILL AT A SLIGHTLY EARLIER STAGE OF PROGRESSION) IN THE GLOBAL ISLAMIC JIHAD WE FACE?APART FROM AL QAEDA AND TERROR GROUPS BEING CLOSELY INVOLVED WITH DRUG SMUGGLING, WHAT'S HAPPENING IN TIJUANA MAY WELL BE A PREVIEW OF HOW THE JIHAD WILL ACT OUT.SUPPORTED FINANCIALLY BY MOSLEM INROADS INTO OWNERSHIP OF OUR NATIONAL FINANCE INSITITUTIONS.Tijuana's new chief knows the cartel's killers are after him--They've already shot up his house and gunned down three cops. He urges citizens to stand with him.--By Richard Marosi--TIJUANA — The bullet holes pockmarking the walls of his home were just three days old when Alberto Capella Ibarra took over the police force of this violence-plagued city.----Twenty gunmen dressed in black had swarmed his yard in the middle of the night, and he'd fought them off, firing an automatic rifle.----Taking office Dec. 1 as the city's secretary for public security, Capella, a longtime activist, declared war on organized crime and challenged citizens to join him in the battle.----Even he had no idea it would get so bloody.----Seventeen people were killed last week as organized crime struck back. Last Monday night and Tuesday morning, heavily armed men killed three of Capella's senior police officers, shooting one at his home along with his wife and two daughters. Two days later, schoolchildren ran for their lives as police and soldiers battled with drug cartel members in a normally quiet neighborhood. Police found six executed kidnap victims inside the suspects' house. A federal agent and a gunman died in the shootout.----Capella, a chubby, soft-spoken 36-year-old with no police training, is at the center of the storm. He moves around the city in a six-car convoy with 20 bodyguards. He can't even stop at a taco stand without scaring off customers who fear gunmen will drive up and blast away.----Originally a corporate lawyer, Capella gained prominence as an outspoken advocate for crime victims. He has long assumed that killers would one day come for him.----Still, in his role as the head of both the police and fire departments, he keeps the pressure on organized crime and corrupt cops while reassuring citizens during what he calls some of the saddest days ever seen in the city.----On Thursday he told mourners at an honor guard ceremony for the three slain officers that Tijuana's criminals had crossed a historic threshold by adding children to their target lists. 'If they've ever had a traditional code, they've broken it,' Capella said. 'But we are ready to give our last breath to honor our responsibility to society.'----After the gunfight at his home in November, Mexican newspapers published cartoon images of Capella as a superhero and dubbed him the Tijuana Rambo.----He could have sat back, enjoying the adulation.----But in his first public appearance after the shooting, Capella rejected it, telling hundreds in a hotel ballroom that society was at fault for meekly tolerating the growth of drug cartels in Tijuana.----He scolded citizens for not holding political leaders accountable and for cynicism. 'It's as if criminals have corrupted us all,' said Capella, his voice cracking. 'Nobody lifts a finger.'----'He's been the only public figure who has taken the problem so seriously, that we should take these crimes as a grave insult that speaks badly of us as a state and society in Tijuana,' said professor Guillermo Alonso Meneses at El Colegio de la Frontera Norte.----Expectations for police chiefs are low here. At least two of Capella's predecessors have been killed and others indicted.----Meneses likened Capella to Jimmy Stewart's character in the classic western 'The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,' a lawyer determined against all odds to inspire citizens and impose order in a lawless town.----What Capella needs, Meneses joked, is a partner like John Wayne to battle the bad guys.----Capella has 2,300 cops on his force, but finding trusted gunslingers hasn't been easy. The police are a dispirited, dysfunctional bunch. Many take bribes, deal drugs and carry out kidnappings. Capella said his first day at headquarters was like entering Ali Baba's cavern. Still, he needs the police.----Mayor Jorge Ramos appointed him to the post after promising to reduce crime in one of Mexico's most violent cities.----To do so, Capella has to take on a deeply entrenched world of drug kingpins and rival armies who roam around the city in convoys of SUVs with tinted windows. Weakened by arrests and killings, the networks are more desperate and violent than ever.----Capella's crackdown started downtown. He created a 'safety zone' around Avenida Revolucion, the heart of the tourist district, flooding the area with cops whose sweeps yielded more than 100 arrests.----Last week began with the biggest victory to date. Police swarmed a group of armed men trying to hijack an armored vehicle as it made the round of downtown banks. Police pursued the assailants across the city, trading gunfire in a wild chase that ended with the death of one suspect and the arrests of four others.----The slayings of the three police officers just hours later clearly were revenge. Two of them had taken part in the chase. The neighborhood gun battle Thursday occurred as people were gathered for the officers' memorial.----The violence last week has brought fear but also a rare display of civic unity.----Dozens of religious, business and political leaders took out an unprecedented full-page ad in a leading newspaper, exhibiting the kind of social responsibility that Capella had asked of citizens.----'Tijuana society repudiates these recent cowardly acts by organized crime,' the civic leaders wrote in the ad.----'We will continue supporting governmental authorities in their fight against crime . . . because it's the only way our children can one day enjoy a life of peace and liberty.'----Capella used to lead a comfortable, quiet sort of life. He ran a thriving law practice high in Tijuana's tallest office tower and vacationed regularly in the U.S. and Europe with his wife and three children.----Then four years ago, a terrible crime wave hit the city.----Violence spread outside the worlds of drug traffickers and corrupt cops. Businessmen, doctors and other professionals were being snatched off streets in broad daylight by well-organized kidnapping rings.----Capella agreed to become president of the Baja California citizens' advisory on public security. He quickly turned the state post into a bully pulpit, making headlines with blunt attacks on organized crime and the politicians and police who were too corrupt or inept to do anything about it.---As his public profile grew, so did the threats. He sent his wife and children to live elsewhere.----That's why he was home alone Nov. 27 when barking dogs awoke him at 2 a.m.----He looked out his window, saw the gunmen and figured they would probably abduct him, then cut him into pieces. Silencing a leading voice in such a gruesome way, he thought, would send a demoralizing message to the citizenry.----Capella decided to fight, firing through different windows to make it appear he had backup. The return fire deafened and disoriented him, he said, and time seemed to slow during the 15 minutes in which bullets whizzed past his head.----He could hear the gunmen trying to break in through the front door, but he had fortified it as he always did by sliding a couch in front of it. He kept running and firing, sending bullets into doors and walls in his terror.----Finally, the gunmen retreated. Capella walked around his property, now littered with more than 200 shell casings. Bullets had cracked mirrors, punctured furniture and shredded every dress shirt in his closet, he said. The book on his nightstand -- 'Transnational Crime and Public Security' -- was riddled with bullet holes.----The attack had occurred just after Capella had surfaced as a candidate for the police job. It could have been a preemptive strike by corrupt police or crime bosses warning him against taking the job.----Death threats continue. Menacing voices over police radio frequencies promise harm to him and his family.----Last Saturday, gunfire again erupted outside his house. Criminals have called in bomb scares at police headquarters, where Capella has his office.----Capella said he has no regrets. When he emerged from the gunfight alive, he said, he felt reborn. God gave him another chance and he plans to make the most of it.----'I think it would be stupid and cowardly to say 'Adios. May God bless you. Nothing can be done.' ' Capella said. 'I would be left living with a very tragic and lamentable weight on my conscience.'--NOTE: ISLAMIC TERROR GROUPS HAVE AFFILIATED THEMSELVES WITH MEXICAN AND SOUTH AMERICAN CRIMINAL GANGS, ALL OF WHOM HAVE A PRESENCE IN THE USA. AND GOVERNMENT PROTECTION IN SOME OF THE LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES.THE ONLY "DEFENSE" AGAINST THE JIHAD WE ALREADY FACE AS A REVERSE CRUSADE, WILL BE AN ARMED RESISTANCE BY CHRISTIAN CHURCHES FOR WHOM TO FIGHT BACK WITH BULLETS WILL NOT COME EASILY PHILOSOPHICALLY. EVENTS MAY FORCE THEM TO DO SO.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Read Alan's comments at the end of this article.By Noah Shachtman
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/01/hackers-take-do.htmlEarlier this week, the nation's chief spy screeched about of the danger of cyber attacks -- and the need to monitor what everyone does online, in response. Now, the CIA has made an usually public warning about the perils that network strikes can pose. Hackers have tried to extort money from overseas utility companies. At least in one case, the Washington Post reports, the online attackers messed with an electrical grid, disrupting ing power in several cities.
"We do not know who executed these attacks or why, but all involved intrusions through the Internet," Tom Donahue, the CIA's top cybersecurity analyst, told a New Orleans trade conference...
He did not specify where or when the attacks took place, their duration or the amount of money demanded. Little said the agency would not comment further...
Cyber extortion is a growing threat in the United States, and attackers have radically increased their take from online gambling sites, e-commerce sites and banks, which pay the money to prevent sites from being shut down and to keep the public from knowing their sites have been penetrated, said Alan Paller, research director at the SANS Institute, the cybersecurity education group that sponsored the meeting.
"The CIA wouldn't have changed its policy on disclosure if it wasn't important," Paller said. "Donahue wouldn't have said it publicly if he didn't think the threat was very large and that companies needed to fix things right now."
The AP notes that "last year, the Homeland Security Department produced a video showing commands quietly triggered by simulated hackers having such a violent reaction that an enormous generator shudders as it flies apart and belches black-and-white smoke."
The recorded demonstration, called the "Aurora Generator Test," was conducted in March by government researchers investigating a dangerous vulnerability in computers at U.S. utility companies known as supervisory control and data acquisition systems. The programming flaw was fixed, and equipment makers urged utilities to take protective measures.
UPDATE: Former spook Michael Tanji writes in to say:
Having worked with Tom Donahue on these and related issues in the past, I regret to inform conspiracy theorists that he is virulently allergic to hyperbole. That he might be making these statements lightly are about as likely as any sane person playing Russian roulette with a semi-auto pistol. I’ve long been a skeptic of claims about being able to shut down the world from the ‘Net, since doctored exercises are not real life (among other reasons), but after today I’m starting to come around to the idea that the ignorance or intransigence of utility system owners just might merit a more robust response than has been undertaken to date.Alan Note: two main activities paralyzed the country and helped incite the populus to revolt against the late Shah in Iran in 1978/79. First was oil workers going on "strike" and creating fuel shortages, specially heating/cooking kerosene supplies, liquid gas for the more modern households AND electricity blackouts for long hourse every day and night. Apart from food spoiling in refrigerators, the discomfort of the population without TV, Radio and lights helped speed the discontent.In the USA, where the whole system of living depends on computers, many without back up generators. With distribution of life's necessities depending on electricity to reach our stores or doorsteps, where gas stations need electricity to provide gas for our cars, the NATIONAL electricity grid will be our Achilles Heel.Grids require a "balance" of power in their neighboring ones and if these do not synchronize and create "dissonance", the grids cause each other to crash. Efforts made to prevent a series of disasterous power fluctuations from occuring have been focused on NATURALLY happening events - NOT artificially created imbalances by knocking down merely a relatively few high tension towers (very easy and most are unguarded and cannot be guarded) on parts of the grids.In my opinion, the blackouts in Canada and parts of the USA a couple of years ago were either tests of our electricity system and recovery by terrorists or perhaps by our own Homeland Security to evaluate the danger.I seem to remember some seized terrorist computers having detailed mapping of our grids and the site of each tower. There were even some arrests of individuals who attempted to fell towers. One apparently with just an axe.Regional bad weather has created blackouts but try to imagine this happening quickly all over the USA and perhaps Canada and Mexico and the impossible strain on repair rsources. Then think of what not having electricity for WEEKS might do to life in your comunity, city, State or Region. Think food, fuel of all kinds, comfort and "sanity" factors. With nobody able to help anymore than initially with hurricane Katrina. This time EVERY State would be hit not just one. And across every part of every State, not just coastal areas.While this clearly shows our vulnerability, it DOES NOT mean negotiate and appease terrorists! Or terror nations like Islamic Iran, Syria etc.

About Me

For many years involved with intelligence and security matters in Iran with significant access at top levels during the rule of the Shah, until early 1979. Currently an Iran SME (subject matter expert), analyst/commentator, and multi-linguist.